Bone marrow-derived cells may repair cardiovascular injury but these cells circulate in small numbers in the blood. In a collaborative study, we evaluated the effects of a novel compound (a CXCR4 inhibitor known as plerixafor) in healthy volunteers. This compund has been previously shown to mobilize bone marrow-derived stem cells that could repair cardiovascular injury. It was found that a single injection of plexifor is able to mobilize bone marrow-derived stem cells and this effect occurs without clear evidence for systemic activation of inflammation. In another collaborative study, the effects of interleukin-2 treatment were studied on inflammatory and thrombotic biomarkers in chronically HIV-infected adults receiving antiretroviral therapy. Interleukin-2 dosing caused transient increases in plasma C-reactive protein, a highly sensitive protein marker of inflammation (including atherosclerosis) and in the levels of a sensitive marker (so-called D-dimer) of abnormal blood clotting (thrombosis), regardless of the amount of HIV virus in the patients circulation (so-called HIV-RNA viral load), suggesting the possibility of increased risk for atherothrombotic events. Since C-reactive protein, an inflammatory marker of cardiovascular risk, is often elevated in major depressive disorder, we studied the magnitude and consistency of possibly increased C-reactive protein levels in premenopausal women with this disease and controls. Depression was associated with increased plasma C-reactive protein in the women with major depressive disorder. Based on the results, we propose that the clinical significance of abnormal plasma C-reactive protein for cardiovascular risk needs to be assessed in large prospective studies of women with depression. Recent data suggested that apolipoprotein B, the unique protein component of the atherogenic low-density lipoprotein, is a better measure of circulating low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol particle number concentration and is a more reliable indicator of risk than low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol. There is a growing support for the idea that addition of apolipoprotein B measurement to the routine lipidchemistry panel for assessing and monitoring patients at risk for cardiovascular disease would enhance patient management. Reviewing currently available evidence, we proposed that the addition of apolipoprotein B testing represents a logical next step to the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III and other guidelines in the United States.